I followed the recipe for Jell-O Jigglers, found HERE, ahead of time. I thought that having blue, Jell-O Jigglers would not only make a fun snack, but looks much more like water than the watermelon used in the original photo. Don't you think?

2) Prepare Your Tray
I covered a pizza pan with aluminum foil and had my children color the foil with blue and green markers. We then covered the colored foil tray with Saran Wrap so that the color would be protected. Remember that your shark will cover a good portion of your tray, so you don't have to completely color it.

And here is the finished tray...

3) Cut the Watermelon
Wait... first, let me recommend you wash your watermelon.
Now, lay your watermelon as shown in the first image and decide which end would make a better shark head. I opted for the left side with the less rounded curve to it. Slice off the other end at a slight angle (not too much).

Next, rest your watermelon on it's cut side, and decided where you would like the shark mouth. Make sure here that you are adding about an inch or so for the teeth you will be cutting out of the rind. Here, I have cut my shark mouth wedge. (Make sure to save your wedge for the shark fin!)

Next, with a small knife, carefully score around your shark mouth, only about 2-3 millimeters deep. This will help you to peal off the rind down to your cut so you can begin to form the teeth.

Can you see my score lines above?

Again, with a small knife, carefully cut away the green rind down to your score lines around the mouth.

4) Remove the Good Stuff
... and SET IT ASIDE! We'll be using that in a bit.
I chose to use a melon baller here, but you may choose to take a knife and cut away all of the watermelon. The melon baller obviously takes more time, but the little balls look so nice I think.

And here we are, with a pile of watermelon, quite a mess I have to say, but a clean shark. I used a spoon to help scrap the extra melon from around the mouth opening. It worked nicely.

5) Cut the Teeth
But before you do that... I rinsed my shark once to get all the sticky off, and set it on some paper towels to help absorb the extra moisture.

Ok... Now this is where it starts to get fun! Grab a small, sharp knife and cut your jaws as you see me doing below, on the top and bottom of your shark mouth.

6) Add Gills & Eyes

I used a small knife to cut into the rind (careful not to cut all the way through) to make an eye and the lines for the gills behind the mouth.

Who's mouth is bigger? Wesley's or the sharks?

I broke a toothpick in half and used that to attach a blueberry to the center of each eye.

And we have an eye!

7) Add a Fin
Take the wedge you cut to form the shark mouth to make your fin. Below you will see how I cut my wedge to get a nice triangle fin.

Then I removed the watermelon from the other side. I placed the fin up to the shark and realized I needed to cut a bit of a curve on the bottom side to have it fit nicely. You may need to do the same.

To attach the fin, I placed a couple of toothpicks into the shark and pushed the fin into place.

Totally LOVE your version! My son thought this was the best thing ever! :)The link for the other picture is here http://www.watermelon.org/Carvings/Carvings-Entertainment.aspxThere are a bunch of other cool carvings as well!

This is just fabulous. I know you said it was simple to make but I am still seriously impressed. How cool would this be at a little person's birthday party??? It's wonderful….hmmm still another 10 months until my boy's birthday….think I might have to bookmark it :)

I love it! Saw you on Someday crafts. I am a new follower with gfc too. I would love for you to follow back. I shared how to make a beautiful earth friendly scrap fabric bottle cap flower necklace that takes 10 minutes and is so pretty on Someday crafts. You can find me at http://www.bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/If you do enter my give away too!

Once again--an amazing post with such cute and creative ideas! My sons will love the shark watermelon. We have been eating watermelon like it is going out of style. :) I shared your blog and post on my Friday Favorites list again. I hope readers are popping over here and seeing what a creative and fun blog you have!

Oh' Rachel, you are just too cool. I would have never thought I could have done this and even though I probably won't you just made me realize it is do-able. And girl, yours came out so much cuter than the inspiration one. I love your colors. P-E-R-F-E-C-T!!!

I love it! Last year I made a car out of or melon for my sons birthday. I am going to store this idea for this year!!! Come on over this week and link to my Tasty Tuesday party! http://nap-timecreations.blogspot.com/

Love this! Wish I had seen it before my son's pirate party! We did Swedish fish suspended in blue jello and watermelon halves filled with fruit, but this is the perfect combination of all those ingredients! Thanks for sharing :-)

Hi there. I drop by your blog every now and again becasue of you fun things for kids. this is GREAT. My kids made a watermelon house the other day and so I totally appreciated this post. If you have a minute you can check out of watermelon creation.. http://bloggingthemoments.blogspot.com/2011/05/silly-snack-saturday-extravaganza.html

Seriously, the most amazing summertime treat I've EVER seen...I adore this! I'm bookmarking it and I just shared in on my facebook...https://www.facebook.com/pages/Midwestern-Sewing-Girl/148542325218346

Hey Rachel! I LOVE this tutorial, I'm totally trying it out for my son's 2nd birthday party next week! THANK YOU for sharing! I'm the newest follower on your blog, I'm visiting from Sugar and Dots! I saw your link up there! You can find me here:http://onestopbabygifts.blogspot.com

Rachel, Your shark is absolutely amazing! The jello tops it off - fantastic job...I.Love.This. Thanks so much for linking to the Sunday Showcase Party. I am a little behind commenting - but I have featured this last week. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend ~ Stephanie Lynn

Thank you for the tutorial, it acrossed my way just in the perfet moment, as yesterday it was my daughter birthday party and Hawaii was the theme,so this watermelon shark was perfect! My husband did a nice job, following your tips and the watermelon shark caused a big sensation amongst small guests and their parents. Again: - thank you :)

Thanks ever so much for your wonderful directions on how to make this shark watermellon...I am a grandma and dont do many creative things....but I tried this and between my husband and I we managed to make it, and had fun doing it...it is going to a potluck memorial for a family who just lost their dad to a long bout of cancer..their daughter is only 12 so we thought maybe this would bring a little smile to her, as they go through this try ing time..thanks so much......

Thank you so much! I found your watermelon shark on Pinterest after a friend made one for her son's birthday party. Your instructions were fantastic! My husband works in youth ministry, and we had our first club of the year tonight. It was so fun to have such a cool desert to end their BBQ!

I just saw that you live in China and had to comment! My husband and I lived and taught in Langfang (near Beijing) for 2 years from 2007-2009. We came back a month before our oldest daughter was born. I'm sure we'll go back someday. We love the country and the people very much. :)

I made this for my step-daughters birthday and the kids loved it!! I made it an hour before the party so we didn't have time for the jello, but she coloured the foil and the fish candy and gummy worms were a hit - the kids loved it!!

Thank you so much for this tutorial!!!! It so helped out with my son's pirate party. He soooo wanted a watermelon shark and I had never sculpted watermelon before. I gave you credit for the tutorial here: http://notyournormalsteam.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/arg-matey-its-a-pirate-party-part-3-grub-and-grog-food-and-drink-to-ye-landlubbers/

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Welcome!

Hi! I'm Rachel. I am thrilled to have you here. I am a crafty mom with a passion for teaching. You will find lots of inspiration on these pages, so give the kids a coloring book and take a look around!